Armie Hammer, right, and Timothee Chalamet in the film, “Call Me By Your Name,” based on the Andre Aciman novel. Hammer recorded the audiobook. He’s one of a number of movie stars narrating audiobooks. In September, audiobooks accounted for 48 percent of the Danbury Library’s circulation. less

Armie Hammer, right, and Timothee Chalamet in the film, “Call Me By Your Name,” based on the Andre Aciman novel. Hammer recorded the audiobook. He’s one of a number of movie stars narrating audiobooks. In ... more

Photo: Sony Pictures Classics / Contributed Photo

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Novelist Andrew Gross, who has written a series of crime novels set in Connecticut, has been surprised by the upsurge in the sales of the audiobook versions of his books; his latest is “The Saboteur.”

Novelist Andrew Gross, who has written a series of crime novels set in Connecticut, has been surprised by the upsurge in the sales of the audiobook versions of his books; his latest is “The Saboteur.”

Photo: Minotaur Books / Contributed Photo

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Romance novels and mysteries are especially popular as audiobooks.

Romance novels and mysteries are especially popular as audiobooks.

Photo: Avon Books / Contributed Photo

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Romance novels and mysteries are especially popular as audiobooks.

Romance novels and mysteries are especially popular as audiobooks.

Photo: Avon Books / Contributed Photo

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Audiobooks surging in popularity

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The book publishing business has been walloped with a lot of bad news over the past decade — the collapse of the once-mighty Borders chain, steadily declining numbers for traditional books — but surging sales of audiobooks have brought in new revenue and a whole new audience of people who say they are too busy to sit down and read.

Listening to books has been made easier with the introduction of smart phones that make it possible to enjoy the latest Harlan Coben best-seller or Hillary Clinton’s “What Happened” wherever you might be.

The appeal of the format has also been boosted by a number of movie stars being signed to narrate classics and new books alike. Earlier this year, film and TV star Maggie Gyllenhaal spent 120 hours in a New York studio recording an unabridged version of one of her favorite novels, “Anna Karenina.” Movie websites were buzzing recently about the news that Armie Hammer would be recording the audiobook of Andre Aciman’s novel “Call Me By Your Name” after starring in the movie version opening later this fall.

Contributors to the Book and Arts website have suggested that a fine actor telling a story can make it much more accessible. “If you think Dostoevsky’s not for you try listening to actor Michael Sheen reading ‘Crime and Punishment’ on a long car journey or at home while you’re stacking the dishwasher or standing at the kitchen sink,” Patricia Wiltshire suggests. “You’ll be surprised to find yourself in the middle of a fascinating, psychological mystery thriller. ... You may not have discovered for yourself if Michael Sheen hadn’t made it easy for you.”

According to the Audio Publishers Association, audiobook sales increased by 85 percent between 2012 and 2015. The number of titles added each year has also spiked — 7,237 were released in 2011; four years later that number jumped to 35,574. (The rise of the Amazon subsidiary, Audible, has helped fuel this surge, with customers being offered audio as an add-on when they buy most books.)

Amanda Gilbertie, who runs the technical services department for the Danbury Library, says requests for specific audiobook titles have been on the rise there for some time.

“I do all the purchasing and we now spend so much on audiobooks — which tend to be more expensive (than physical books) — that we have had to shift the budget around. People like it because they can listen while they are doing other things — commuting especially. It has gotten easier and easier to listen to books and you can read what you want when you want to.”

The librarian says patrons have told her there are some narrators they like so much — not the movie stars, but lesser known actors — that they start looking for other titles recorded by the same person.

Gilbertie believes some authors who read their own books, however, probably should leave that chore to voice professionals. “The last one I tried was Christopher Hitchens reading (his book) ‘God is Not Great’ and I didn’t finish it because his accent was so terrible.”

Best-selling author Andrew Gross, whose work has included a series of crime novels set in Greenwich, told an audience at ThrillerFest in New York City in July that he never paid much attention to the figures on his audiobook sales until recently.

In the 1990s and early ’00s audiobooks were largely restricted to discs for CD players. Only the top best-sellers achieved much popularity in that format. Then the arrival of iPhones a decade ago, and their ability to download audio, eliminated the need for cumbersome CDs.

“The numbers were never that significant,” Gross said of the audio numbers for his early novels. But the novelist saw tangible evidence of the growing popularity of downloading books with his 2016 World War II thriller “The One Man.”

“It sold 16,000 (audiobooks) which amazed me,” he said.

Patrons can access audiobooks from their libraries through the free Hoopla app that can be downloaded to iPhones, iPads or other tablets.

“It has become so popular,” Gilbertie says of the Danbury Library’s audiobook offerings on Hoopla, which also serves as a portal for e-Books, comics, TV shows and movies.

E-books and video still account for the majority of material the library sends out via its app, but Gilbertie says those numbers are rapidly shifting.

“In September, audiobooks accounted for 48 percent of the circulation,” she says of the most recent Hoopla figures.